Mark Mullen
"We like to bet on those who believe in themselves. If you've never taken a chance on yourself, at least think about it. Unless you do, you may never know what you're missing. And neither will the rest of the world."
Undaunted Courage
Fletch, The Godfather
Nuggets, Avs, Broncos and the Buffs
When I first meet or Zoom with founders, I don’t like to open the deck. I want to have a conversation and get to know you, and I typically know within the first fifteen minutes whether the rest of the meeting will be worth it from an investment perspective. It’s an instinct that has served me well.
I don’t binge watch programming and I have no social media apps on my phone. They can be fun, but you don’t get that time back.
I have had the good fortune to have two distinct yet intersecting careers that have both molded me as a person and informed my investment style and track record. The first 20 years of my career I was a telco, cable and tech M&A investment banker working for an incredible entrepreneur, Bill Daniels, who is also known as the Father of Cable TV in the US. I also had the unique opportunity to live in Paris, London, New York City, Boulder, SF and LA and I have worked with uncommonly diverse entrepreneurs from numerous industries and countries. This distinct living and work experience as a partner, M&A banker, and investor having done deals with different people and companies across 30 countries is what sets me apart from other VCs, as does my eagerness to mentor and be 100 percent available to the people I invest in.
For the past two decades, I’ve been making seed investments in tech’s most promising B2B founders, with an emphasis on LA’s burgeoning ecosystem. Prior to Bonfire, I founded Double M Partners and Mull Capital and managed high-growth funds focused on Internet, media, and technology, and I often co-invested with Bonfire’s co-founder Jim Andelman – the genesis of our rewarding partnership.
In between my investment banking and VC career, I took almost two years and “gave back” as the COO of the City of Los Angeles and Senior Advisor to the then-Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In this role, I experienced firsthand the value created when there’s diversity on a team working to solve big problems – a tenant I prioritize when helping founders build winning teams and a strong company culture.
I live in Los Angeles with my wife and two children, and I’m living my best life when spending quality time with them.
"Mark is reliable, extremely well connected, and always gives sound advice. When we lost a top customer Mark was our first call. When we were raising our Series A and getting term sheets, Mark was also our first call. Mark has made essential intros for us - to our head of Sales, two key customers, and our Series A VC. Mark has also taught us how to become good leaders and scale our company. We owe much of our success to Bonfire’s partnership with involve.ai."
Gaurav Bhattacharya, CEO & Co-Founder, Involve.ai
